Atlanta City Council President Ceasar Mitchell recently announced the redesign of the City Council’s website at citycouncil.atlantaga.gov.
“This new website is user friendly and offers many features that weren’t available previously, including the ability to view presentations made before council committees, a district and polling place locator, the ability to sign up for e-notifications from your council representative on a variety of important topics and much more,” Mitchell said.
The new website was produced in coordination with the Council’s Office of Policy and Research, the Council Information Technology Manager and Council’s Office of Communications.
A new feature called MapATL can be accessed through the homepage by clicking on the icon District Maps.
“This is an easy to use tool which provides constituents with a plethora of information such as public safety data, and locations of local parks, libraries and schools,” said Council Staff Director Tangela M. Williams.
As part of the new design, City Councilmembers will also be able to place monthly financial expenditures online for public inspection.
The City Council is currently considering legislation that would allow members to “opt in” - posting their monthly financial reports on their individual pages on the website, one month in arrears, on a monthly basis. Until now, to obtain access to the Council’s financial information, residents and news organizations had been required to submit an Open Records Request and pay associated fees with the request, which is not always the most efficient and timely way to obtain the requested information.
Municipalities such as: New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin, TX and Denver have all made serious strides towards complete transparency with regard to city accounts payables and receivables.
According to the United States Public Interest Research Group Education Fund, a 501(c) organization that works to promote consumer and promote good government, cities who provide financial transparency on their websites reduce opportunities for abuse or waste because government officials and contractors know the public quickly and easily tracks government spending.
